Mark from Saviour Septic talks about a common problem he hears from homeowners with a septic system with a leaching field. They call and say, “Everything is backing up.”

Typically, they’ll continue, “I have a washing machine downstairs, it’s backing up all over the floor, there’s water everywhere, there’s sewage everywhere! It stinks. It’s disastrous. Can you come out on an emergency call and help?”

Here are a couple of quick tips on maintaining your septic system to avoid a service charge.

Depending on the age of the system, it’s typical to have your septic tank pumped every 3 to 5 years. If you haven’t had it pumped out in a while, and you’re a handy person, you can dig up the covers to the actual tank. Check the level. It may seem that the tank is full — but it’s not actually full. The tank works by displacement. anytime you flush a toilet, use any of your sinks, your dishwasher, take a shower in your home, everything ties into a main drain into the floor. It goes out into the septic tank and works by displacement.

Lift the cover on the septic tank — if you can even lift it yourself — it’s heavy! We’ll post instructions on exactly how to do this on our website. Pop the cover. While it may look full, this is where the pipe goes in – the inlet (or the inlet baffle). If you go about 5 feet in the other direction, you will find another cover (depending on how your tank is situated). When you purchase a home, you want to request an “as-built” which is a map from the town. Your town hall should have that information. If it’s not available, Mark can easily locate your outlet for you.

On newer septic tanks — late 1990’s to early 2000’s, a lot of systems will have an outlet filter. This is basically a filter that is designed to catch all the solids before they go out into the leaching field. That thing tends to back up every year to 18 months’ time. You can save yourself a hefty bill by simply cleaning that yourself.

Basically, what you do is put a kitchen glove on and pull the thing out of there. It looks messy and gunky. You can just imagine what’s been in your septic system over the years! But, you just need to simply spray the outlet filter with a hose, put it back down in, and you should be good for at least another year.

(860) 608-5806 is Mark’s cell. You can call or text him with any questions!